Friday, September 30, 2011

Horses in the back yard

We have horses in our back yard. I don't talk about them a whole lot, mostly because they don't technically belong to us. Their names are Maggie and Norman. There's another horse, a mare, named Sweetie, but she's just visiting, helping the other two eat all that grass, for the summer.

Norman and Maggie belong to my sister, Nancy, who doesn't live anywhere near here but who loves her some horses and collects them like big, terminally -hungry, rather-expensive, not -exactly- potty- trained pets.

So, while she's off looking after other people's horses, which she does for a living, we get to look after hers. And I can't say it's not exactly a burden. In fact, it's fun.

Because horses smell good. I'd much rather clean up their house than my own. They are warm and fuzzy. Their noses are as soft as velvet. And their chins are like rubber eggs.

They are also a fabulous substitute for Saturday morning cartoons, which we couldn't watch if we wanted to because we still, after however many, five, months living back here, haven't figured out how to hook up our pre-digital television so it actually shows a picture.

Esther loves having a pony to "train" and a reason to get up early and put on her fancy riding boots we got in England over Christmas. She says she is training the pony, Maggie, for Isla to ride.

Isla isn't entirely sure she wants to ride Maggie just yet, but she's got time to decide.

She is a bit frisky. What I like the most about Maggie is the way she contrasts with her surroundings. She doesn't look anything like grass or trees so she's easy to spot. She gives our bored eyes a treat each day when we look out the window and see her standing in, or sometimes running through, the meadow.

And they both look really good in the late-afternoon sunlight. If I hadn't dropped my camera in the lake, you would be able to see just how good without being distracted by ghosts.

I have decided that life is too short to use a narrowly-resuscitated camera, and am determined to go camera shopping this weekend, hell or high water.

Any recommendations? I liked the one I have, a Panasonic Lumix, before it drowned. But I am open to suggestion....

I've only been on a horse once since I left Vermont! I LOVE them. They smell great and I love the way that they'll gently lean against you when you lean against their chest and put your arms around their neck! They can be so peaceful at times. They always tried to eat my hair, too! I'm not sure if it's the color or the smell....

I wish that my kids could experience the joy of horses without having to pay tons of money and drive an hour each way for a short ride.

Esther looks like she's in her element. It's great that she loves the responsibility of caring for them. Besides, you can't let those great boots go to waste! Isla has that "I'll let you do it." look on her face while Esther looks so grown up!

This looks heavenly! I just got back from the west coast, I was visiting one of my best friends who moved there last year. She went from a big city to a tiny, remote town and she too, has her horse in her backyard. It is pretty wonderful. : ) Thanks for sharing, you always do wonderful things with your girls!

Those photos are so beautiful, Betsy! I absolutely LOVE painted horses, like Maggie. I came very close to owning one once a few years ago... That may have been a disaster due to the whole life situation at the time, but oh, how I would have loved that horse.

As far as cameras go, I use a Sony digital - it works beautifully and has a 10x zoom, which is really good for small digital cameras (as far as I've seen, anyway). It takes great pictures, and isn't too much to carry around since we're not real photographers.

About Me

This is where I write about being human and raising little humans and... oh the humanity. Oh yes, and returning to Vermont, after living in France. I'm taking reentry one day at a time with my eyes always fixed on the horizon.